Okieflyfisher53

I have fished the area directly below the dam, as have other people, without being harrassed. There are jerks everywhere, unfortunately. Another area that I fish is on the west bank next to PSO. I have not tried it yet, but I've been told that the area just upstream of the I-44 bridge is a good area. I'm hoping for lower flows for this weekend so I can explore a little. Steve

Jay bird, I would say that you are correct about the spoonbill. There are a lot of them in there. The first time I fished that area I hooked into one of them and fought it for about 15 minutes before the hook pulled out. It's been a couple of weeks since I've fished there because of generation from Keystone Dam. Steve

Bob, The closest place to stay would be in Monett. I haven't fished Capps Creek in quite some time, but when I do go over there I usually stop at Hickory Creek on the way back. As for parking at Capps, I usually go down to the MDC walk-in access downstream from Jolly Mill. I don't think it gets fished as heavily as the area just below the mill dam and usually fishes pretty well. Steve

Bill, I fished the 31st and Riverside area on Sunday. I didn't do as well as I have been but did manage a few small stripers and hybrids. I may try the Tenkiller tailwater next weekend and see how it is fishing. Steve

Bad cast, I would keep the whole skin. There are uses for practically all the feathers. Here is a link to an article by Jack Gartside that you may find useful: http://www.jackgartside.com/art_pheasant_feathers.htm Steve

Phil, Have you named any of those fish yet? Steve

The ideal flow for fishing the area seems to be around 300 cfs or less. I have tried fishing it at higher levels with little or no success. There are probably areas that are fishable up to 1000cfs but I would not try to wade the area directly below Zink Dam at the higher flow rates. I am still learning the river since I have not been fishing for stripers long. Steve

I got a bunch of "Aunt Lydia's Sparkle Yarn" on ebay. I have chopped it in small pieces and blended it in a coffee grinder to make some pretty good dubbing. I also have 4 shetland sheep dogs who provide lot's of dubbing. When I brush them I get enough under coat to fill a zip-lock baggie. Steve

Bill, You are right. I have been fishing below Zink Dam, which is a low-water dam. The area directly below Keystone dam is big water and not really suited to fly fishing. There are areas between Keystone dam and Zink that are wadeable if you can find a place to access the river. On a good day I can catch all the fish I want to catch in the 31st and Riverside area of the river so I haven't explored other areas yet. Steve

I tried to fish the Arkansas yesterday but there was too much water coming down from Keystone Dam. Today was a little better although it was very windy. I fished for about 3 hours and caught 7 stripers, 5 hybrids, 5 white bass and 1 spotted bass. The biggest striper was around 5lbs, the biggest hybrid around 3lbs. I was using Clouser Minnows tied on #1 Mustad 34011 saltwater hooks. Blue over white and olive over white were both productive colors for me. Steve

jay bird, Here is a real time generation chart that I use: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=07164500 I don't trust the SWPA's "projected generation" schedule because I've found it to be unreliable. Anything under 200 fps is wadeable. Steve

Jaybird, This is from the shore or wading. The only time that you would need a boat there is when they are generating at Keystone Dam. Steve

Bill, I have never fished the lower Elk for white bass. When I lived up by Grand I fished the Spring River and Horse Creek during the white bass run, and before the polluted mine water ruined it, Tar Creek. Steve Wayne, My experince with Elk River has been smallmouth fishing from Pineville to Hiway 43 bridge. I prefer the stretch above 43 bridge and below Noel because there is a lot less canoe traffic. The stretch from Pineville to Noel is good fishing, but gets crowded in the summer. My only experience with the Elk on the Oklahoma side has been crappie fishing in the Elk River arm of Grand Lake, and that was mostly from a private dock. Steve

Bill, I saw one other fisherman there yesterday afternoon. I caught most of my fish yesterday on Deceivers. I also caught a few on a bunker pattern and even had one come up and slam a crease fly. The guys that use spinning gear use pencil poppers with a big marabou "doll fly" a couple of feet below it. Anything that resembles a shad should work. Steve

I grew up fishing the Elk River and it is still one of my favorite smallmouth streams. The last time i floated it was in October and we caught a lot of fish, mostly on top on poppers and foam hoppers. Our fly fishing club has an outing to the Elk every year, either in summer or fall. Steve

Lol Dan! I can deal with a sore arm from fishing, it's the ones from working that I don't like. Steve

I went to the Zink Dam on the Arkansas River at Tulsa this afternoon. I caught 18 stripers, 3 hybrids, and 2 black bass in about 2 1/2 hours. Most of the stripers were small, none over 5 lbs, but still fun. I will probably go again tomorrow if there is no generation. Steve

Bill, Yes, I live in Tulsa. There are stripers, white bass, and hybrids in the river year round, and the right conditions for a wade fisherman is no generation. I am fairly new to striper fishing so I have been getting information from others who have been at it a while. Butch at D&B Outfitters here in Tulsa fishes the river quite a bit, and is a good source of information about the river. D & B Outfitters: 6044 S Sheridan(918) 492-1866 Steve

Bill, Zink Dam at 31st and Riverside Drive is one of the places that I fish for stripers. There are other areas between here and Keystone Dam that can provide good striper action, although I am just beginning to find out where some of them are. I don't go if there is any generation because it is unsafe to wade. I don't go by the SWPA generation charts because they are unreliable. Here is a site that provides real time river flow data. http://www.thetent.com/arcadia/ok/oksf_index.htm Steve

We are not blessed with an abundance of trout water over here, but the warm water fish help make up for it. We have a good striper fishery in the Arkansas River below Keystone Dam. The Illinois River below Tenkiller Dam is a designated trout stream, but when they are generating, the stripers come up out of the Arkansas River and the striper fishing can be quite good. The Illinois River above Tenkiller lake has a good white bass run in the spring, as does the Grand River above Lake Ft Gibson, and several smaller streams in the area. Steve

Brian, Yes, our new record brown came from the Lower Mt Fork below Broken Bow. We also had a new record smallmouth caught this year, a little over 8lbs from the WR Holway Reservoir, aka the Salina pump-back. Bill, yes, my wife and I both got new 8wts this year to use on the stripers. I have caught a few of them while trout fishing so we decided we might as well fish for them. I have some pretty good striper fishing about 10 minutes from my house in the Arkansas River, when SWPA and the corps cooperate with my fishing schedule, LOL. Steve

I have been making use of the OzarkAnglers site for quite some time and just joined the forum yesterday. Some of you guys know me as biot midge on the FAOL site where I host the chat on Wednesday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. My name is Steve Crosby and I live in Tulsa, where I work as a commercial carpenter. I love fishing Taney, the White, and Norfork when I get a chance to get over that way, which isn't often enough. We do have a few trout here, but nothing like the tailwaters over there. I did make it down to the Lower Illinois River today and did quite well on zebra midges and flashback PT nymphs. Our local club is involved with the Ok. Dept of Wildlife Conservation in an effort to improve both of our year-round trout streams, and has in the past donated both money and man hours to projects in Arkansas and Missouri. Just wanted to introduce myself and thank Phil for his labor of love that is so beneficial to us interested in the fishery. Steve